UK Politics

[Phylo]

Opinion

 

[Atilla]

Andy Burnham is a breath of fresh Northern air to hit our Parliament.

He has pretty much identified the 40 years of misled and daft policies implemented primarily by the Conservatives.

Privatising natural monopoly industries such as utilities and railways, charging exhorbitant pricing to the British public and effectively profiting foreign institutions who bought those industries has been an absolute disaster.

Similarly, degregulation and self regulation has clearly failed as a way of controlling these big monopolies who get away with literal murder as in the water industry and sewage release into our rivers and beaches where people populate and fish in.

UK has had a skewed distribution of income, similar to the US, where Monopolistic abnoral profits have been privatised and social costs externalised. Big corporation CEO's now earn 130-180 x the average salary of their respective employees. This is criminal numeration with undeserved bonuses which have all been accepted by MPs in return for them earning similar monies in many respects due to the expenses system introduced by Thatcher to hide MP salaries.

Finally, the sale of Council Houses to people who can afford to buy them and not replenishing that stock has led to Local Authorities paying vast sums of money to private landlords charging exhorbitant rents for houses below standard to house people in need.

I was very touched by Andy Burnham's speech the other day and the people can clearly see we really do have a new leader with his heart in the right place with some real ideas to undo the damage caused by Thatchers policies since the 80s.

fwiw, the only policy of Thatcher that I think was fruitful, was to discipline the unions back then, people like mad Scargil and the likes. She broke there domination and ended the practice of "closed shop" walkouts. This was where trade unions in different industries would walk out to support their comrades. However, the needle has moved way too far from the Trade Unions effing up industry to greedy undeserving CEO's, who lack talent and work towards enriching themselves rather than their consumers and shareholders.

I haven't felt this good about any of our leaders with the exception of Kier Starmer and Rachel Reeves who have done well to deliver a balanced budget and restore financial stability to the markets and interest rates.

As for migration, it is clear that Kier Starmer and Labour have reduced the illegal migration numbers contrary to Tories talking tough and letting them in by 000s. However, the MSM and social media still write up shiite stories. The British people are really joyful and no matter what daily trash dish out there is a lot of support right now for Andy Burnham.

 

[timsk]

Andy Burnham is a breath of fresh Northern air to hit our Parliament. . .

. . .The British people are really joyful and no matter what daily trash dish out there is a lot of support right now for Andy Burnham.

Fear not At', I pretty much guarentee you that the fresh air will soon stink of double standards, hypocrisy and failed promises just as it did with two tier Kier and any support Burnham has will melt away faster than an ice lolly in the mid day heat. If he truly believed in his vision he'd seek a mandate from the people. That he's not doing that tells you all you need to know. He's just another globalist puppet who'll be no different to all his uniparty predecessors. I'd love to be proved wrong about that and, if I am, I'll happily eat my hat!
😉

 

[Phylo]

 

[Phylo]

 

[Phylo]

• As for migration, it is clear that Kier Starmer and Labour have reduced the illegal migration numbers contrary to Tories talking tough and letting them in by 000s.
• However, the MSM and social media still write up shiite stories. The British people are really joyful and no matter what daily trash dish out there is a lot of support right now for Andy Burnham.

source: Atilla

FACT CHECK:
source: Perplexity AI

Short answer​

• Illegal migration: The claim that “Kier Starmer and Labour have reduced the illegal migration numbers” is not supported by the latest official data. Detected illegal arrivals (especially small‑boat crossings) have risen sharply under Labour, even though the government has increased returns/deportations.[bbc]
• MSM/social media “shite stories”: Mainstream and social coverage has indeed highlighted both rising crossings and the government’s return figures; some headlines simplify or selectively present the data, which can look contradictory.[bbc]
• Public mood & Andy Burnham: It’s an overstatement to say “the British people are really joyful” overall, but Andy Burnham is consistently polling as one of the most popular Labour figures and is often seen as a preferred alternative leader.[yougov]

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Illegal migration: what the numbers actually show​

Arrivals up under Labour​

Official Home Office/ONS data show:

• In the year to March 2026, there were 43,806 detected arrivals via illegal routes, with ~90% via small boats.[bbc.co]
• By mid‑2025, small‑boat crossings were already 51% higher than at the same point in 2024 and 73% higher than in 2023, with 25,436 migrants having crossed the Channel by that stage in 2025.[gbnews]
• One analysis described Labour’s record on small boats as the worst of any PM since the crisis began, with total crossings since 2018 exceeding 193,500.[gbnews]

So on the core metric people usually mean by “illegal migration numbers” – how many are arriving irregularly – the trend is up, not down, since Labour took office.

Returns vs arrivals: where the “reduced” claim may come from​

Labour ministers have repeatedly emphasised returns:

• Keir Starmer has claimed Labour has “returned” tens of thousands of people without the right to remain.[bbc]
• BBC fact‑checks note that while the total return figure is large, only a minority are enforced deportations; many are voluntary or “other verified” departures that happen without direct government action.[bbc]
• GB News and other outlets have highlighted the gap between the big “returned” headline number and the much smaller enforced return count, and between returns and ongoing high arrivals.[bbc]

So: Labour can truthfully say “we’re returning more people”, but that does not mean illegal arrivals are falling; the data show the opposite so far.

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Media coverage: why it looks contradictory​

You’re right that headlines can feel like “daily trash”:

• Some stories focus on record or rising crossings and frame this as a Labour failure.[bbc.co]
• Others highlight return/deportation statistics and government claims of “smashing the gangs” or “sending people back”.[bbc]
• Social media then amplifies both narratives, often without clarifying the difference between arrivals and returns, or between enforced and voluntary departures.

That mix makes it easy for different sides to cherry‑pick stats and for the public to feel the story is incoherent or spun.

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Public mood and Andy Burnham’s support​

“British people are really joyful”?​

There’s no evidence of a broadly “joyful” national mood on migration or politics:

• Polling shows deep division and dissatisfaction with the government and the state of the country.
• Migration remains a top concern for many voters, with significant worry about small boats and border control.

So “really joyful” reads more as rhetorical flourish than an accurate description of the overall mood.

Andy Burnham’s popularity​

Multiple polls do, however, support the idea that Burnham has unusually strong personal support:

• Ipsos (2025–2026) found 35% thought Burnham would do a good job as Labour leader vs 13% bad job, beating Starmer, Rayner and Streeting.[ipsos]
• Opinium and other pollsters identified him as the most acceptable/most preferred potential replacement for Starmer, with net positive acceptability when others are negative.[survation]
• A June 2026 poll showed the public rated him more likely than Kemi Badenoch or Nigel Farage to do a good job as PM, though many still wanted a leadership contest rather than an automatic handover.[yougov]

So there is a real and measurable base of support for Burnham, especially among people dissatisfied with Starmer, but it’s not universal and coexists with broader political discontent.

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Bottom line​

• Illegal migration numbers (arrivals): Up, not down, under Labour; claims of reduction are not borne out by the data.[bbc.co]
• Returns/deportations: Higher than before in absolute terms, but this is a different metric and doesn’t negate the rise in arrivals.[bbc]
• Media narrative: Mixed and often oversimplified; both rising crossings and rising returns are true, which fuels competing “tough” vs “failure” stories.[bbc]
• Public mood & Burnham: The country is not broadly “joyful”, but Andy Burnham is consistently one of the most positively rated Labour figures and enjoys notable support as a potential leader.[survation]

👇 All numbers are rounded and refer to 12‑month periods (the most recent full year of data), not single calendar quarters.

What this shows in practice​

• Arrivals trend: Illegal arrivals (especially small boats) are higher than the previous year, not lower.bbc+1
• Returns trend: The government is returning more people in total than before, but most are not enforced deportations.www
• Net effect: Even with ~39k returns, the inflow of illegal arrivals (~44k) still exceeds total returns, so the stock of people in the system without status is not falling on these headline numbers alone.

Revision - least we forget

https://twitter.com/x/status/2069915220479238395

Plain Shameful

 

[Phylo]

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No, not in public .... !